Dicebox



April28, 19535 BENKOE DICEBX Filed Nov; l, 1950 wm ewwe myENTOtL www), wwwa @LTYS.

Patented Apr. 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DICEBOX Ivan Benkoe, London, England Application November 1, 1950, Serial N o. 193,344

In Great Britain September'fi, 1950 1 Claim.

`This `invention relates to apparatus for playing a game which comprises scattering dice, balls or other articles'in haphazard manner within an enclosure to cause the same to take up new positions therein. Such apparatus will hereinafter be referred to as of the kind set forth. The chief object of the present invention is to providea novel, simple, and intriguing apparatus for this purpose.

According to the present invention, the enclosure for the dice or the like is dened by a base on which the dice or the like rest and side walls which do not extend down to the base so that an arm, manually operable from outside the enclosure, may sweep across the base under the side walls to scatter the dice or the like within the enclosure to cause the same to take up new positions therein.

Conveniently, spring means are provided for driving the arm across the base from one side of the enclosure to the other on successive actuations of the manually operable means, trip means being provided to hold the arm against movement until suiiicient power has been stored in the spring to drive the arm sharply across the base under the side walls, whereupon the trip means are released to free the arm.

Preferably, the arm itself is in the form of a length of springy wire carried by a manually operable lever appropriately pivoted outside the enclosure. In this case, the free end of the arm may be bent upwardly somewhat so that in its position of rest it lies above the side walls of the enclosure which are inwardly inclined. AS the manually operable lever is moved from one position to the other the spring arm is flexed and commences to move down the sloping side wall until, when it reaches the edge, the power stored therein is released to cause the arm to ick sharply across the base, thereby effectively scattering the dice or the like.

In order that this invention may be the more clearly understood and readily carried into effect, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example the preferred form of dice scattering apparatus according to the present invention, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device, and

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view showing the dice scattering arm in one of its two positions of rest, and

Figure 4 is a section on line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional plan View similar to Figure 3 showing in full lines the position which the arIn assumes just prior to the scattering of the dice and showing in broken lines the position of the arm after it has passed `through the enclosure to scatter the dice,

Figure 6 is section on line i5-5 of Figure 5.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the apparatus therein illustrated comprises a casing li] made of metal or other suitable material, the upper surface of which is provided with an aperture covered with glass or other transparent material II through which the enclosure I2 for the dice or the like I3, which lies below the said aperture, may be seen. The base of the enclosure I2 is formed by the bottom Illa oi the casing and the side walls I4, dening the enclosure I2, extend from the edge of the aperture downwardly towards the bottom lila. The side walls I4, which may be cylindrical, rectangular or of any other shape, do not extend down to the bottom Illa and are slightly inclined inwardly, as shown in Figures 2, 4 and 6.

A lever Iii is pivoted within the casing lil, as at I6, and extends out through a slot I'I therein so that it may be moved from one position to the other by the nger or thumb. Stops, iormed by the ends of the slot I'J in the casing, are provided to limit the movement of the lever l in both directions.

Outstanding from the levei` is a spring wire It! which is of such a length that, as the lever i5 is moved from one position to the other, it sweeps completely across the bottom Ida under the edge of the side wall I4. The rear, or free, end of the spring wire arm I8, however, is bent slightly upwards, as at I 8a, and the arrangement is such that, with the arm at rest, it lies outside the side wall I4 of the enclosure I2 and above the edge of the same, the side wall thus forming a stop (see Figure i). When the lever I5 is operated, the spring wire arm I8 is exed and, due to the power thereby stored in the same, commences to move slowly down the sloping outside of the wall It until when it reaches the lower edge thereof, as shown in full lines in Figures 5 and 6, it iiicks sharply across the bottom Ida and effectively scatters the dice or the like I3 in the enclosure I 2. When the lever I5 reaches the end of it movement, as shown in broken lines in Figures 5 and 6, the spring arm is has passed completely across the bottom and has become located on the opposite side of the enclosure I2 ready for operation again, in the reverse direction, when the lever I5 is ac- `in a haphazard manner.

tuated. It will be seen that the movement of the arm I8 across the bottom lila will be very fast and it is a simple matter so to proportion the parts that the arm mo es across the base so quickly that it is not perceptible, the whole action being, thereby, rendered very intriguing.

Many modifications may be made in the above embodiment Without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the movement of the arm may be held up and the arm suddenly released to give a quick sweep across the base in any other manner or, in va very simple form, Which is not to be preferred, the arm may be moved directly across the base by movement of the lever.

Although the present invention has been more particularly described in its application to the scattering of dice Within the enclosure, it is not limited thereto but is of general application to the scattering of other articles in the enclosure Thus, for. example, itv may be used for scattering,r balls, in which case the base of the enclosure may be embossed or otherwise provided with cups or other receptacles for the balls coloured in various colours.

I claim:

Apparatus for playing a game of the kind. set forth comprising` an enclosure for dice donned oy a base and side Walls which slope inwardly towards the base, means for supporting said side Walls above the base in such a position that they extend almost down to the base so as to leave a space which is less than the height of the dice between the lower ends of said side Walls and said base, a manually operable lever pivotally mounted outside said base, and a spring arm carried by said manually operable lever, the free end of said arm being bent upwardly sok that in its position or" rest it lies outside and above the bottom of the side walls, the arrangement being such that as the manually operable lever is moved from one position to the other the arm is flexed and commences to move clown the sloping side Wall until, 'when it reaches the edge, the power stored therein is released to cause the arm to flick sharply across the base, thereby effectively scattering the dice.

IVAN BFNliOEt References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 434,613 Turner Aug. 19, 1890 1,545,903 Junghans June 14, 1925 1,887,068 Renz Nov. 8, 1932 1,942,932 Nicholas Jan. 9, 1934 

